Ocasio-Cortez Claims Latinos Should Be Immune to U.S. Immigration Laws

Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claimed on Thursday that Latinos have a right to migrate into the United States because they descend from Native Americans.

“We have to have respect for children, respect for families, respect for human rights and respect for the right to human mobility because it is a right,” Ocasio-Cortez told a crowd while speaking out against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

“It is a right because we are standing on native land, and Latino people are descendants of native people,” she continued. “And we cannot be told and criminalized simply for our identity or our status.”

The self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist joined three of her fellow progressive congresswomen in calling for Democrats to reject any measure that funds additional appropriations to immigration enforcement.

Ocasio-Cortez, along with Democratic Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, and Aryanna Pressley of Massachusetts have been promoting an anti-ICE/CBP petition which was first circulated by left-wing activist groups including Move On, United We Dream and the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD), reported The Hill. The petition has over 200,000 signatures.

The New York congresswoman notably brought a CPD executive director, Ana Maria Archila, to the State of the Union address as her guest. The Open Society Foundation, which was founded and funded by George Soros, is one of CPD’s largest donors, giving millions to the organization over the past few years.

“Until they can make a good faith effort to expand and embrace immigrants in this nation that have always been a core element of American democracy, until they can prove good faith to an America ideal, they do not deserve any resources for their radical agenda,” Ocasio-Cortez told the crowd.